Considering the high level of high school volleyball played in the Wabash Valley, it’s surprising that a relatively low total of only 13 athletes are playing the sport collegiately this fall.
Several veteran players of the past such as Lauren Ditteon, Katelyn Bishop and Stephanie Wilson have concluded their college careers, while several others who had remaining eligibility or had signed letters-of-intent have disappeared from rosters.
Only three of the 13 players — Terre Haute South’s Kristen Seaton and Joy Trendelman and Northview’s Kaley Huffman — are at Division I or II schools.
Four of the players are teammates at Lake Land College in Mattoon, while Northview accounts for the best representation with three active athletes.
Several area players still in high school appear to have outstanding careers ahead of them, so hopefully this list will grow over the next few years.
Early-season volleyball news:
• Seaton injured — South’s Seaton was scheduled to start as a sophomore right outside hitter for Pepperdine, but has not yet appeared for the Waves due to injury.
Pepperdine is off to a 4-0 start coming off a 3-1 victory over No. 17 Colorado State in the first match of the Oregon State Asics Classic on Friday.
Last season, Seaton averaged 1.88 kills per game.
“Last year Kristen was a little bit up and down, but when she was up she was hitting about .750, and when she was down she played like a freshman,” Pepperdine coach Nina Matthies said in the team’s preseason prospectus. “If she’s healthy, then I think that she will have a breakout season.”
• Trendelman paces Pumas – The Saint Joseph's College Volleyball Team returned from Pensacola still riding the wave of momentum. Traveling down to the West Florida Invitational last weekend, the Pumas opened the season last week winning three out of four games before being rushed to the airport to avoid the possible threat of hurricane Gustav.
Safely back home, the Pumas defeated Taylor University in straight sets this week to push their record to 4-1.
St. Joseph’s was led by sound play from Trendelman, a senior, who led the team with nine kills on the evening.
• Lake Land getting back on track – Ranked No. 17 in the preseason, Lake Land lost six of seven matches in a tournament in Utah before getting back in the win column on Wednesday with a 25-14, 25-13, 25-23 win over Rena Lake.
Rockville’s Ashli Wicker set 27 assists for the Lakers, who improved to 2-0 in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference and 3-6 overall.
Northview’s Ashley Hull added three aces and two kills, while Terre Haute North’s Casey Hayne had eight assists, one ace and three digs.
Hull is one of four players from Brazil on the Lake Land roster, but the only one who didn’t need a passport to get to the Mattoon, Ill., school.
• Weatherford helps Ravens – North’s Carol Weatherford had five blocks and four kills on Wednesday as Indiana Wesleyan defeated Anderson 22-25, 25-11, 25-20 and 25-9.
Anderson was 3-2 going into this weekend’s Hanover Invitational, in which the Ravens went 1-3 in pool play.
In other college news:
• Phegley gets needed rest – Following a subpar performance at the U.S. National team tryouts, Terre Haute North grad Josh Phegley took the rest of the summer off to rest some tendonitis in his shoulder.
He had surgery last winter, and feels he may have rushed back too soon to play in February. The shoulder wasn’t a big problem during his collegiate season, as Phegley recorded one of the best seasons in Indiana University history.
“I took about two weeks to rest before going to the USA Trials,” Phegley said this week. “When I got out there, I just jumped into it expecting to keep playing hard and my shoulder had already tightened up.
“I developed some really bad tendonitis, which went away in about two weeks, but my coach and I agreed that I needed rest before fall ball.”
• Cleaning up – There were two errors associated with the Aug. 24 edition of this column.
North grad and former Wabash football standout Mike Russell coaches at Crawfordsville High School as written in the column, not collegiately as the headline indicated.
Recent South grad D.J. Shouse was recruited by Ancilla College, but is not continuing his basketball career there, as terrehautesouthbasketball.com had reported. Shouse is actually continuing a family tradition and playing at Peru State in Nebraska – where his Uncle Daniel once scored 100 points in a game.
Joey Bennett is a former Tribune-Star sports reporter and copy editor who now teaches and coaches at Northview High School in Brazil. He can be reached at tribstarcollegereport@yahoo.com.
Cloverdale
Rebecca Varnes, senior, Manchester
Linton
Katie Tharp, senior, Rose-Hulman
Marshall
Brianna Hollenbeck, freshman, Lake Land
Northview
Ashley Hull, freshman, Lake Land
Kaley Huffman, freshman, IUPUI
Brianne Arvin, sophomore, Stephens (Mo.) College
Rockville
Ashli Wicker, sophomore, Lake Land
South Putnam
Shelby Johnston, freshman, Franklin
Sullivan
Alyssa Chagnon, freshman, Vincennes
Terre Haute North
Carol Weatherford, junior, Anderson
Casey Hayne, freshman, Lake Land
Terre Haute South
Kristen Seaton, sophomore, Pepperdine
Joy Trendelman, senior, St. Joseph’s
Wabash Valley college volleyball players
College Report
College Report: Wabash Valley college volleyball players a select group
- College Report
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Catching up as the school year winds down
Odds and ends from here and there as the school year quickly winds down. For starters, high jumper Nick Jaeger of Terre Haute South was named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference’s male track & field newcomer of the year:
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College Report: Lively earned collegiate upgrade with strong play
Hillary Lively signed to play Division II basketball at Maryville (Mo.) during her senior year at North Vermillion, but those plans changed and she would up at nearby Danville Area Community College — where she recently concluded an outstanding two-year career.
Lively was impressive enough to earn a Division I scholarship to Southeast Missouri State of the Ohio Valley Conference, and both her future and past college coaches think she will continue to succeed there.
“She fits what we need,” SEMO coach Ty Margenthaler said. “She has college experience, she is strong and physical and plays well around the basket and moves well.
“Her strength, rebounding and touch around the basket will be a big help. On the defensive end, she’ll be able to guard a true center.” -
COLLEGE REPORT: Valley prep athletes getting ready for next level
The NCAA “regular” signing period begins Wednesday for all sports except football, field hockey, soccer, track and field, cross country and men’s water polo.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Conferences honor Valley softball players
Several Wabash Valley area college softball players have been honored by their respective conferences for outstanding play this spring.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Jake Newton makes big impact for Lincoln Trail College
Jake Newton had a long time between playing in competitive basketball games, a span of about 18 months, and used the frustration from that long dry spell to produce a stellar freshman season for Lincoln Trail College this winter.
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COLLEGE REPORT: A.J. Reed earns SEC Player of the Week honors
After belting three home runs during a five games last week, Kentucky sophomore left-handed pitcher/first baseman A.J. Reed was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Week.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Spring newcomers making marks
Several freshman baseball and softball NCAA Division I players from the Wabash Valley have already made immediate impacts at their new schools, while others are waiting for their turns to shine.
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COLLEGE REPORT: A.J. Reed named third-team preseason baseball All-American
Two-way sophomore standout A.J. Reed was one of three University of Kentucky players named third-team preseason All-America by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Sponsler honored after big week for Wabash men's hoops
Wabash College freshman Ross Sponsler of Terre Haute North was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the period ending Jan. 6.
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COLLEGE REPORT: North grad Hughes finds success after facing preseason adversity
A.J. Hughes knew he was in for a battle as he competed with three other walk-on punters in the preseason for the lone starting job on the Virginia Tech football team.
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Etling, Meggs enjoying great year
It’s been a great year so far with more to come for a pair of longtime friends and St. Patrick’s School classmates.
Former Terre Haute resident Jack Meggs quarterbacked the Bellevue Wolverines football team to the Washington Class 3A state championship this fall, culminating with a 35-3 win over Sammamish Eastside Catholic — Bellevue’s fifth straight crown.
Danny Etling, meanwhile, has completed graduation requirements at Terre Haute South and is preparing for an upcoming high school all-star game and his first college classes in a couple of weeks. -
COLLEGE REPORT: Valley’s women’s college hoops players start strong
Several women’s college basketball players from the Wabash Valley have gotten off to good starts this season on the hardwood. Highlights:
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COLLEGE REPORT: Mayhew, Mascari provide fall highlights
Several dozen Wabash Valley athletes enjoyed successful fall seasons collegiately in cross country and tennis this year. -
COLLEGE REPORT: Former North teammates start strong in college
Former Terre Haute North teammates Ross Sponsler and Matt O’Leary made their college basketball debuts last week and had outstanding initial performances. -
COLLEGE REPORT: Shoemaker OBP leads Chisox farmhands
Former Indiana State, Olney Central and Northview baseball standout Brady Shoemaker opened a lot of eyes last summer in the Chicago White Sox farm system, earning him a spot on a mlb.com blog team that highlighted the team’s outstanding minor leaguers at each position.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Boeglin has plenty of ISU memories, but not all are related to basketball
Melanie Boeglin, an All-American who played on the women’s basketball team at Indiana State from 2002-2006, will be inducted into the 21st class of the Indiana State University Athletics Hall of Fame on Thursday.
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COLLEGE REPORT: North grad leading DePauw volleyball in winning streak
DePauw’s volleyball team has won seven straight matches entering this weekend’s DePauw Invitational, including four straight wins last weekend to capture the Rose-Hulman invitational title.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Engle moving up football coaching ranks
Michael Engle graduated from DePauw University in the spring of 2011 with a degree in political science and future plans to advance his studies in law school.
Being a coach’s son and a competitive athlete by nature, Engle has put those plans on hold for now. -
COLLEGE REPORT: From Terre Haute South to Division I competition to coaching careers
Adriane Wunderlich and Katelyn Bishop both turned stellar high school careers at Terre Haute South into Division I collegiate careers at Indiana State and Southern California, respectively.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Former prep athletes getting ready for fall college season
An impressive total of at least 122 Wabash Valley athletes and coaches will be competing collegiately for the first time during the upcoming school year or have changed schools to continue their careers.
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COLLEGE REPORT: SP’s Boetjer is Indiana’s Miss Softball
South Putnam’s Brooke Boetjer, who will be a freshman on the Indiana University softball team next spring, was named the 2012 Indiana Miss Softball last month between games at the North/South All-Star games in Carmel.
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College report: North grad Mayhew is second team all-American at IU
Indiana University running standout Zach Mayhew of Terre Haute North was honored earlier this month as a second-team All-American by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
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College report: Bloomfield runner to join IUPUI track, cross country teams
Bloomfield track/cross country standout Julie Riggins will be joining the developing IUPUI program next fall as one of six incoming recruits.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Roberts takes coaching position at UNC-Greensboro
Terre Haute native Mike Roberts is continuing his climb up the college basketball coaching ladder, recently departing Rice for a spot as the associate head coach at North Carolina-Greensboro.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Valley grads playing role for No. 13 Vincennes
A few springtime odds and ends:
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COLLEGE REPORT: Shouse making his mark for Danville Community College
Derek Shouse definitely flew under the radar in his one season of playing for the Terre Haute South boys basketball team last winter.
Not highly recruited, he made his way to Danville Area Community College as a walk-on with the hopes he could find his way onto the court at some point. -
COLLEGE REPORT: Bullock finds sunny home to continue tennis career
Most college athletes progress along similar paths to get to their final destinations athletically, but Terre Haute South grad Taylor Bullock’s route to the Eckerd College women’s tennis team was a little different than most.
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COLLEGE REPORT: TH South QB entertains Division I offers
Danny Etling’s trek to being a big-time college quarterback took a huge step this week when the Terre Haute South junior picked up a scholarship offer from Purdue, according to 247sports.com.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Seibert stepping up her game
Terre Haute South grad Haley Seibert has seen the usual ups and downs of her freshman basketball season at Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne and is making the most of her opportunities this season.
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COLLEGE REPORT: Vikings Waters, Barton excited about college basketball
West Vigo grad Lauren Dailey helped the Lady Vikings basketball program to a lot of success at the end of the 1990s, and went on to play for Eastern Illinois from 2001-2004.
- More College Report Headlines
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